Bandai Digital Entertainment

Bandai Digital Entertainment Company (BDE or BDEC) refers to Japanese and American subsidiaries of Bandai that published software titles for the Pippin Atmark and Pippin @WORLD consoles, respectively. BDEC's parent company Bandai licensed the technology for the Pippin platform from Apple Computer in December 1994. Bandai promoted early Pippin development under the name of Bandai Digital Software at the 1995 Tokyo Toy Show in June. Bandai Digital Entertainment Corporation was established in October 1995 to support the platform and developers in the United States. Bandai Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. was formed on January 9, 1996 to support the platform in Japan. After the console only sold 30,000 and 12,000 units respectively in Japan and the United States, Bandai announced on February 27, 1998 that it would officially abandon the Pippin platform and close Bandai Digital Entertainment on March 13, 1998. Its facilities and staff were absorbed by other divisions of Bandai. A department at Bandai's development headquarters was assigned to continue providing support for Pippin users until December 31, 2002.